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The Clay County School Board adopted a tentative $312 million budget for 2014-15 — about a 4 percent increase over the current budget. The board also has adopted a property tax rate that is lower than the current one.

The board will hold the final public hearing on the proposed budget at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 at the Fleming Island High School Teacher Inservice Center, 2233 Village Square Parkway, Fleming Island.

The 2014-15 millage rate will be 7.222 per $1,000 of taxable property, which is a 0.12 mills decrease from the current 7.342 rate.

A mill generates $1 in property tax revenue for every $1,000 in assessed value. Under the new rate, the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay a school district tax of about $722 a year, which is a decrease of $12 per year.

In comparison, that same homeowner under the current rate of 7.342 mills per $1,000 is paying about $734 now in school district taxes.

The new millage rate is projected to generate about $66 million in revenue for the district, Assistant Superintendent George Copeland told the Times-Union.

The district’s current budget totals about $300 million. The budget increase is largely due to state mandates including those for employee retirement benefits, he said.

Copeland said the district hopes to increase its reserve fund to 2.57 percent of its general fund by the end of 2014-15. The district will end its current year with its reserves at 2.24 percent, he said.

Florida requires school districts to have at least 3 percent of the general fund in reserve. Last year when Clay dropped below the 3 percent level, administrators had to write to the Florida Department of Education outlining how the district would increase its reserves. A school system’s reserve fund typically is viewed as an indicator of the overall fiscal health.